Posts Tagged ‘Surf’

New Zealand is a well-known destination for landscape photographers. However, most of the photography here is done in the South Island. Majestic mountains, pristine lakes and rivers, and remote beaches are iconic images that come to my mind when I think about NZ.

In 2011, I was offered a position as a lecturer at the University of Auckland. At that time, I was living (with my girlfriend and 2 dogs) in the beautiful region of Trentino (in Italy) with the Dolomoties as my back yard. After 2 years of living there, we were quite fed up with Italy and above all the Italians! My fellow countrymen are an uncivilised lot living above any rules, cutting corners all the times and making their lives really miserable. If you have ever been in Italy and driven around you know what I mean. Most importantly, our lives was getting a really low angle. So we jumped at the prospect to change country again and start a new life.

Of course, there was a lot of planning to do, especially with importing two dogs in NZ. Among of all this, I was also concerned about my photography: no more snow and peaks to photograph within an easy reach. All the nice destinations (that I knew of at that time) were located in the South Island and quite far from Auckland. To be honest I was not that happy until browsing around I came up Chris Gin’s website. He has a fantastic collection of pictures from around Auckland most of which are seascapes.

Fast forward one year, and here we are in Auckland. I finally managed to get a car and going around exploring the possibilities offered by my local backyard.

Although Auckland has a population of 1.5 million (NZ total population is around 4 million), its west coasts are not that populated and offer a nice shelter from the city life. More importantly, they are easy to reach from down-town Auckland:45 minutes drive and you are there!

My first decent picture from NZ! The sunset was not that spectacular but still I like the reflection in the dark sand and rocks. Being a 45 min. drive from the place where I live, I might get a nicer one some day. But for now it will do.

I have been down to the coast a couple of times already. I have to say that in these two occasions the sunsets have not been so spectacular as they usually are around here. Despite all of this, I managed to capture a couple of shots that I am quite happy with: they are both from Maori Bay, a very nice rugged beach with nice rocks and black sand.

Maori Bay at its best: when the tide is low wonderful rock formations are revealed. The light from the setting sun brings to life the textures in the rocks and incoming waves

I have to admit that I miss the snow, the cold winters, and above all the mountains. But it feels good to be back on the beach. And most of all, far far away from Italy!